Events Overtake--and Cancel--Functions

On the April 29 opening day of Hollywood Park--one of Los Angeles’s time-honored social occasions--the Goose Girl was bobbing on the pond and the mood was ecstatic as Rouge et Noir won the sixth race. Immediately after, television monitors at tables in the Turf Club switched to the Simi Valley courtroom and the Rodney G. King verdict. The “Sport of Kings” took a back seat. Not a few picked up their winnings and headed out.

In the evening, the city’s charity leaders digested the news and got on the phone. By Thursday afternoon, nearly all the scheduled weekend events in Los Angeles for benevolent causes had been canceled.

A few events went on. At midnight Wednesday, Donna Johnson gave the Bonaventure the go-ahead for the next day’s 18th annual YWCA of Greater Los Angeles Leader Luncheon. But she changed her guarantee for luncheon guests from 1,250 to 650.

Bree Walker, news co-anchor at KCBS-TV, had been scheduled to emcee. She apologized and canceled. At 7 a.m. Thursday, four hours before the event, the audio visual company said it couldn’t make it. Johnson hired a replacement.

Six of the seven honorees--Laura Balverde-Sanchez, Jill Elikann Barad, Brenda Funches, Lulu Hassenplug, Sakaye Shigekawa and Gail Wyatt--attended. The seventh, Monica Lozano, editor and associate publisher of La Opinion, stayed on the job.

“We planned to net $200,000. Who knows now,” said Helen Shepherd.

In Wilmington, Regal Rents had already raised its tent for the biennial Floriade II at Banning Residence Museum. Contracts had been signed, honorariums agreed upon.

Pamela Clyne, co-chairman of Premiere Night, and Kacey Doheny had driven to Wilmington Wednesday afternoon. They checked into the Quality Inn, checked out the lights on the tent at the Banning, had dinner and planned to be ready for all-day chores leading up to the Thursday night Floriade premiere.

After Friends of Banning House founder Nancy Call alerted them to events, they decided to cancel the premiere party but hoped to continue with the three days of Floriade prepaid public viewing of floral displays and exhibitions, lectures by outstanding floral designers and sales by a dozen vendors. But those too were canceled. At 4 p.m. Thursday, a helicopter pilot warned of a bomb threat and instructed everyone to leave Banning House.

Before Clyne and Doheny departed for Los Angeles, they arranged for food, which had been ordered through Somerset Catering for 400 party guests, to be donated to policemen and firemen on the riot lines and for a Salvation Army truck to pick it up. Flowers were directed to Childrens and Good Samaritan hospitals.

The hope is that the $400-per-couple premiere tickets will stay donated. The complexity of the benefit--12 landscape gardeners, 18 florists, nine interior floral designers, 12 vendors, dozens of lecturers--precludes rescheduling for at least a year. Lost: the planned net of $250,000 for Banning restoration. “Florists are out thousands, too,” Clyne said.

The Friends of the Robinson Gardens Tiffany dinner and the National Arts Assn. Orchid Ball were also canceled. Donna Wolff and Melinda Winston of the Friends said they hope to be able to restage the event in June. They do, however, expect the Friends’ benefit tour of six gardens in West Los Angeles to continue Friday.

“Everybody has been incredibly kind,” said Wolff. Joachim Splichal, owner of Patina Restaurant on Melrose, for instance, had Santa Barbara shrimp, vegetables and desserts ready for the Friends dinner. He sent the food home with his employees and didn’t charge the Friends. “These are good clients,” he explained.

Pasadena florist Jacob Maarse said he wouldn’t charge for the flowers, either: “We just let it go.”

As for the Orchid Ball, Marion Malouf had cut 800 orchids in her Bel-Air garden--something she does every year for table decorations. Orchids are long-lasting, so the blooms will go to churches on Mother’s Day. According to Jane Mapes, wine purchased for the ball has already been sold at $100 a case to members. The Beverly Wilshire Hotel has forgiven financial contracts, as has Art Deco and his Society Orchestra.

Said Mapes: “We’re totally amazed and appreciative. And it looks as though we’ll still be able to give performing and visual arts scholarships to colleges.” She doesn’t expect ticket holders to ask for money back.

The Beverly Hilton was particularly hard hit by cacellations. Director of catering James Cutfield had five postponements--events for the Center Theater Group, California Abortion Rights Action League, the Dance Gallery (a luncheon honoring Ginger Rogers), St. Joseph Center and Stephen S. Wise Temple.

Not only were charitable causes affected, so were the paychecks of hundreds of waiters, chefs, parking attendants, bartenders, musicians, florists and video specialists.

Said Cutfield: “We want (the charities) to come back when people feel more comfortable raising funds for charity. People last weekend were not in a mood to celebrate; it wasn’t simply fear of going out.”

Already, the Center Theater Group has rescheduled for Aug. 27 its event honoring Gordon Davidson.

More events canceled last week were the 61st annual Loyola Mother’s Guild spring luncheon, the Delta Delta Delta Pansy brunch, the Club 100 of the Music Center Elizabeth Gage English tea at the Beverly Wilshire, and the Heritage of the Music Center luncheon.

Also called off were the AAF Rose Bowl Aquatics Center and Pasadena Foothill Valley YWCA diving demonstration to raise funds for swimming lessons for latchkey children and the Tyler Prize Dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel honoring environmental leaders Perry L. McCarty, Stanford professor and Robert M. White, president of the National Academy of Engineering.